OnePlus announced at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) that it will be making a foldable phone, joining a rush of new competitors looking to take on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip series. No details have been revealed, except that it will arrive in the second half of the year.
For now, we don’t know if the device will take either a “flip” or a “fold” form factor, or be something else entirely. However, OnePlus President and COO Kinder Liu said during the event, “It must be a flagship phone that doesn’t settle because of its folding form, in terms of industrial design, mechanical technology, and other aspects. We want to launch a device that aims to be at the pinnacle experience of today’s foldable market.”
This makes it seem that the company will be going for a larger folding tablet, like the Z Fold 4 and its many rivals—rather than a smaller, more compromised flip phone like the Z Flip 4. One of those rivals is the Find N2 from parent company Oppo, which we’ve already reviewed, comparing it to the Samsung. You can watch it at the end of the article.
Of course, the Find N2 is only available in China. And given that Oppo continues to stress that it has no plans to bring the Find N2 to global markets, it stands to reason that the OnePlus foldable is a way to bring Oppo’s technology—like the second-generation Flexion Hinge—to a wider audience.
Then again, OnePlus has a history of tweaking its devices to suit its generally more discerning buyers. The company’s new tablet, the OnePlus Pad, has a higher-resolution display and a faster chip compared to the more wallet-friendly Oppo Pad Air.
As such, we can probably expect the OnePlus foldable to feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (or maybe even the 8+ Gen 2, given its expected release window?), as well as a few other upgrades. Just, OnePlus, if you’re reading this, can you please put the stereo speakers in the right place, so that the phone doesn’t put out mono audio when it’s closed?
